Armored Car Driver Bagged With $1.6M Stolen Cash
Queens NY Aug 1 2018
An armored car driver at a Long Island City facility has been charged with stealing a bag containing $1.6 million, prosecutors said.
Riguerson Avril, 37, of Howard Beach, was arrested on July 24, after he was caught on surveillance footage snatching the bag from the back of a truck at the GardaWorld facility on Vernon Boulevard and 45th Avenue in Long Island City, Queens District Attorney Richard Brown said.
Avril spotted the cash bag sitting on a pallet at the armored car facility at about 10 p.m. on July 24 and pushed it to the ground, then kicked it under a nearby truck to hide it, according to a criminal complaint. Employees discovered the cash was missing and reviewed surveillance video, and confronted Avril when he arrived at work on the morning of July 25, the complaint says.
Avril was taken into custody and later admitted to investigators that he kicked the bag under the truck, prosecutors said. “I moved the money off the top, dropped it and kicked it under the truck,” he said. “I wanted to see if anyone would notice.” He allegedly sneaked the cash into a truck, moved the truck outside the facility and covered the bag with his raincoat, the complaint says. He later moved the to his personal car, according to the complaint.
Avril told police he tore open the bag and moved the cash to a suitcase that he asked a relative to hold for him, the charges state. Police recovered the suitcase in Philadelphia, minus $10,000. Investigators are still trying to determine what happened to the cash, prosecutors said.
Avril was charged with grand larceny and criminal possession of stolen property at his arraignment at Queens Criminal Court, where a judge released him under supervision, but without bail.
GardaWorld officials did not respond to requests for comment.
Source: qgazette.com
